Strong crank, no start...now cat. damge? Topic is solved

[bfry]

Redid PCV about a week ago - runs fine since.

But, tonight:

Felt rough, then dies on a steep hill after CEL blinks on/off. Will start afterwards, but dies when I step on the pedal to accelerate. I try this about 5 times then get "pushed" home in neutral by my kids car - fortunately was only about 2 blocks away.

Vida says misfire cylinder 3 and coil pack signal too low. I remember pulling coil pack #3 when doing PCV - was easier to crimp PCV hose bracket w/pack out of way. So I check it, looks fine, but when under the hood I notice boost/charging hose is completely detached - the end by the firewall. I reattach and extra tighten hose clamp.

Try to start car, but now it won't start - just cranks. Try ~6 times and somewhere during those six times I see "Immobilizer - see manual" message on dash, but goes away after a few seconds. Car still cranks well but won't start.

Load up Vida again. Misfire error gone, but now says ECM-640C Turbo control - signal too high.

Still cranks and won't start an hour later.

Forgot to mention that the battery was completely dead a few days ago for no apparent reason - I jumped it and it seemed fine afterwards - not sure if that factors in. I did forget to turn the key to position 2 when bringing the battery “back to life”.


**UPDATE**

Went back out this morning, disconnected battery for 10 mins, reattached, cleared Vida, turned key (not try and start) and zero errors in Vida. Tried starting three times. Cranks strong but won’t catch, checked Vida afterwards and zero errors. This has me stumped.

**UPDATE 2**

Got new battery, was due for one anyway. Seems like voltage holds more constant now, was fluctuating several volts previously I noticed when in Vida. Put some fresh gas in it, a bottle of injector cleaner too. Bled the fuel rail a few times, pulled all coil packs and tested (all between 8.15-8.6 ohms) and still won’t start (still cranks strong) and no error codes in Vida.

**UPDATE 3**

Car was basically on empty when this happened so I figured maybe a bad/clogged fuel filter even though a long shot - spent $20, picked one up and still cranked strong but wouldn't start. Started checking fuses in engine bay. #10 (coils & ECM) was bad. Replaced it and started right up. Drove around and it ran fine. Left it idling at the top of driveway to move other cars in for the night and when I got back to it I could tell it was idling rough. Took car around the block, drove up same steep hill where it stalled out yesterday and it got really rough with CEL flashing on and off. Scanned with Vida and got following:
ECM-310C - Misfire, at least one cylinder - catalyst damage
ECM-313C - Misfire, cylinder 3 - catalyst damage
ECM 352C - Ignition coil cylinder 3, signal - signal too high

Catalyst damage? Hmmmm. So maybe all the "smoke" in my previous post, titled "Cause of smoke", was in fact excess oil burning off that caused a clog - the oil causing the clog coming from continuing to run the car after the engine blew. I have noticed the underneath of the car and the engine bay seems "hot". Temp. is always OK on the gauge, but the metal frame surrounding the radiator where the low pressure hose is mounted and other metal away from the block is painful to the touch which I don't ever remember being like that. I'm also thinking a clogged cat. could also explain why the boost hose "popped off" at the firewall end.

Genuine new converter obviously VERY expensive. I see lots of after market brands on eBay much cheaper. Anyone have experience replacing a cat and not using genuine Volvo? I try to keep it genuine parts given past experience with this car, but this looks REALLY expensive.

Any thoughts? Thank you.

**FINAL UPDATE**

So I talked to someone who is a Volvo mechanic. They said the catalyst damage message is rarely valid. They suggested I disconnect the MAF and drive it and then recheck codes. I did and catalyst damage was still there after having been cleared but the codes were also specific to coil pack 3. In my mind it seemed like that coil pack had been singled out a lot in this whole process and it was the only one that tested on the low end of resistance readings with the multimeter. So I spent $60 and picked up a new one and smooth as silk now. I drove up and down that hill where I kept stalling like 20 times - hahaha.

So much for my theories about why the cat. was clogged - what a fire drill! I guess that’s why I’m not a mechanic...

[abscate]

The cat damage method is not a message telling you about he cat. It is a warning thst the misfiring is significant enough that you should stop driving the car for fear of cat damage. Meow